HCMC, Cuba cooperate to develop tourism

Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Thanh Phong and the city's officials have met comrade Jose Ramon Balaguer Cabrera, Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, Head of the International Relations Board.

At a working session with Cuban Deputy Tourism Minister Louis Sanchez during the visit, head of the HCM City delegation - Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong briefed his host on the city’s socio-economic development, as well as potential for tourism cooperation between Cuba and the Vietnamese city.

On this occasion, the Ministry of Tourism of Cuba signed cooperation agreements with HCMC’s travel companies to organize tours to Cuba, call on Vietnamese businesses to invest in building hotels and resorts in Cuba and support Cuban enterprises to participate in international tourism events in HCMC.

Cuban Deputy Tourism Minister Louis Sanchez said 2017 was a record year for Cuba’s tourism sector as the country welcomed more than 4 million visitors, up 16.8 percent year-on-year, earning US$43 billion.

Cuba is regarded as the country has a potential to be an attractive destination after Mexico with an estimated number of tourists of 12 million in the upcoming years. Cuba's tourism industry hopes to have 103,000 hotel rooms by 2030, he added.

The Ho Chi Minh City’s delegation also visited the Mariel Special Economic Development Zone, a. 465.4km2 special economic zone situated 45km from Havana.

The Mariel complex has been granted investment licenses for 35 projects worth a total capital of US$1.2 billion, including two Vietnamese enterprises, Thai Binh Investment Joint Stock Company and Vietnam Glass and Ceramics for Construction Corporation (Viglacera).

During the trip, the participating businesses from HCM City raised questions on the issuance of land use right certificates, land lease duration, tax preferences and priority projects.

The delegation also visited a primary school named after Ho Chi Minh in Havana and a village named after Vietnam’s Ben Tre province in Artemisa province.